by VSP Media
 
Photos Courtesy of ricksdarkroom.comBARBERVILLE, FL-  Racers and fans gathered at Volusia Speedway Park on Saturday night for the running of the 2010 Scott Thompson Memorial, featuring the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series.  The night also featured action from three of Volusia Speedway Park’s top divisions, including the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman, Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, and the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks, plus fun events like the intermission rib eating contest featuring succulent ribs from Brians BBQ, and a tailgate contest that awarded race fans for their delicious and creative spreads in the public parking areas surrounding the speedway.

 
A couple of weeks prior several racers had joined Volusia Speedway Park’s Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Models to get in some laps on the big half mile in preparation for this weekend’s events, and at that time Mark Whitener absolutely dominated the rest of the field.  And with that in mind it came as no surprise that he set the Ziegler Engines fast qualifying time with a blistering 18.38, that he was on the pole for the Thompson Memorial, or that he led most of the opening laps.  But while Whitener soundly defeated Ivedent Lloyd on that night two weeks ago, “The Professor” was watching, learning, and thus had another class session scheduled for the rest of the field.
The race got off to a stammering start as cautions dominated the opening laps.  But that situation sorted itself out by lap 6 as through it all Ivedent Lloyd was steadily picking his way toward the front from his eighth place starting position.  Whitener had built a solid lead by lap 8, but Lloyd was coming fast, having cleared the rest of the top five and concentrating on reeling in the Big Frog Motorsports machine.  Meanwhile Tyler Ivey, who had started in the 10th position, was fighting forward as well, eventually cracking the top three before things settled down.

Ivedent Lloyd finally caught and passed Whitener in front of the flagstand on lap 15 just before a pile up in turn three slowed things down again.  And with the Roush powered 21 car now in front it was Mark Whitener who was doing the chasing, while keeping tabs on a hard charging Tyler Ivey who was lurking in the third spot. 

Longer green flag runs later in the event had the leaders threading their way through lapped traffic, and that helped Ivedent Lloyd distance himself from Whitener and Ivey while it assisted others like John Kellum and Adam Bedenbaugh in holding on to what they had. Try as he might, Mark Whitener could not catch Lloyd over the final laps despite help from a couple of late race cautions, as Ivedent Lloyd added another Scott Thompson Memorial win to his long list of accomplishments.  Lloyd collected $3800 for the win, plus a $100 cash bonus courtesy of Astor recycling.  Mark Whitener settled for second place while Tyler Ivey followed in the third spot.  John Kellum had a respectable night as he hung tough for a fourth place finish, and Adam Bedenbaugh competed the 50 laps of racing by rounding out the top five.

Shaun Daugharty led from the pole as the Taylor Racing Products Sportsman Division got the green flag, but on lap three everything halted as a tangle in turn one left Scott Sansom’s car on its lid.  Sansom walked away from the incident, and as racing resumed it was Daugharty’s turn to experience bad luck as he lost the lead to Danny Vogel just after the restart, then his engine faltered on lap 7 and ended his night.  But while Vogel was fast, Stanton Mills was faster, snatching the lead away on lap 16 in turn two.

While all of this played out in front, Matt McGillivray was on the move from his 7th starting position and picking his way forward, moving into the third spot as Mills was stealing the lead from Vogel.  And despite a late race caution that bunched things up with three laps remaining, the top three remained in place to the finish with Stanton Mills enjoying a celebration in Victory Lane.  “Double Down” Danny Vogel netted second place, and Matt McGillivray placed third.  Fourth place went to Aaron Barness, while Josh Byrd gained nine positions to finish in the fifth spot. 

Billy Medders led the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks to the green flag but could only hold the lead until lap 5 when Phillip Brown separated himself from Tim Hughes and passed Medders for the top spot.  Mike Tovet had started back in the seventh spot but charged forward, wrestling with Tim Hughes for second place before finally grabbing it for himself.  Brown turned out to be too tough to tame once he had snagged the lead, and went on to hold off all challengers for a well deserved win.  Mike Tovet followed in second place, while Tim Hughes settled for third.  Billy Medders held on for a fourth place finish while Jeff Miller placed fifth.

The Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stocks got the honor of closing out the night of racing, complete with the return of some familiar names that had been absent from their ranks since earlier in the racing season.  “Jumpin” Jim Shaw led from the pole and played a major role in how the finish would shake itself out, although probably not in the way that he had hoped.

Just after Chad Scranton took the lead from Shaw on lap 4, Shaw’s 32 machine slid sideways in front of Scott Mooers at the top of turn two.  Mooers had no choice but to put the brake pedal to the floorboard, but Randy Strehle was unable to react in time and slammed Mooers hard, sending him head on into the outside barrier wall.  Strehle suffered front end damage that ended his night in a puddle of radiator fluid on the backstretch, while Mooers’ machine was wounded at both ends and needed a hook to get back to his pit area.  The melee also collected Delbert Moyer, who plowed into the mess from behind Strehle.

And with two of the big dogs now out of the picture, Chad Scranton was left to have his way with everyone else while the others scrapped over what was left.  And scrapped they did, as the race ended with a frontstretch tangle that saw the third place trophy handed Robert Donaly as his car was dragged away on a hook.

As Chad Scranton negotiated the final turns of the race he was forced to greatly reduce speed as a tire went down.  That bunched up Robert Donaly, Tom Hughes, and Luke Sadler, who were furiously battling over second and third places, with Hughes ending up sliding sideways toward the finish line and collecting Donaly in the process.  Both slammed hard into the front stretch wall just short of the flagstand as Sadler escaped the wreck to place second.  Donaly somehow ended up in front of Hughes as their wadded up machines slid along the wall and across the line, so he was awarded the third place finish.  And while wreckers worked to sort out the twisted mess, Chad Scranton watched it all from the Victory Lane stage along with his friends, family, and fans.  Fifth place went to the triple-0 of Jason Tovet.

Volusia Speedway Park is planning to take a break next weekend while fans flock to Daytona for the July NASCAR events, and to allow our racers, fans, and staff, to enjoy a much appreciated Independence Day holiday with friends and family.  Racing returns to Volusia Speedway on July 10 with the Challenger Challenge, as the 4 Cylinder Challenger racers will be squabbling over a $500 cash carrot, plus the usual trophies.  The night will also feature the return of the Daytona Antique Auto Racing Association, plus action from the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Models, the Budweiser Modifieds, the Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks, and the Amsoil Synthetic Lubricant Thunder Stocks.  For more information, please visit www.VolusiaSpeedwayPark.net.

Volusia Speedway Park results for 6/26/10

Scott Thompson Memorial (50laps/$3800 to win)

1- 21 Ivedent Lloyd Jr.
2- 58 Mark Whitener
3- 47 Tyler Ivey
4- 41K John Kellum
5- 26 Adam Bedenbaugh
6- 46P Darrell Padgett
7- 26W Dillon Wood
8- 16 Shane Williams
9- 145 Jason Davis
10- 5K Patrick Williams
11- 32C Phillip Cobb
12- J17 Joe Kump
13- 98C David Clegg
14- 24 Dennis Williams
15- 25 Donnie Chappell
16- 07 Doug Watson
17- 11 Matt Hartley
18- 15 Jeff Henry
19- 101 Keith Nosbisch
20- 311 Ken Monahan
21- 41 Barry Sheffield
22- 22B Brandon Cameron
23- 66 Chuck Chitty
24- 23 Lawton Minchew
25- 12 Jack Nosbisch
26- 35 Christian Augspurger

Taylor Racing Products Sportsman

1- 57S Stanton Mills
2- 99 Danny Vogel Jr.
3- 95 Matt McGillivray
4- 11 Aaron Barsness
5- 42 Josh Byrd
6- 7 Dalton Lanich
7- 66C Kyle Chappell
8- 15 Cody Blair
9- 80 Paul Shead
10- 10 Steve Shead
11- 17H Blaise Hetznecker
12- 22 Brad Humphries
13- 57 Heinz Haas
14- 00 Shaun Daugharty

15- 17K Marc Kinley
16- 18S David Showers Jr.
17- 58 Dave Burttram Jr.
18- 56C Scott Sansom
DNS- 96 Matt Johnson

Daytona Sportswear Street Stocks

1- 13 Phillip Brown
2- 98T Mike Tovet
3- 54 Tim Hughes
4- 17M Billy Medders
5- 28 Jeff Miller
6- 04 Bubba Christian
7- 71 Rick Davis
8- 94 Robert Sirmons
9- 2S Mick Kulak
10- 77M Mark Maresca
11- B1 Homer Hatcher
DQ- 80H Howard O’Steen
DNS- 35 Kevin Durden
DNS- 2H Cory Hupp
DNS- 66V Greg Vandergriff

DNS- 119 Joe Belkey

Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants Thunder Stock

1- 27 Chad Scranton
2- 15 Luke Sadler
3- 9R Robert Donaly
4- Tom Hughes
5- 000 Jason Tovet
6- 81 Courtney Eubanks
7- 03 Robert Schrunk
8- 22 Kelly Snyder
9- 32 Jim Shaw
10- 13 Kent Corbin
11- 10 Scott Mooers
12- 24 Randy Strehle
13- V1 Delbert Moyer
DNS- 6 Wally Douglas
DNS- 9 Jim Goempel

2010 brought the fifth edition of the Scott Thompson Memorial to Volusia Speedway Park, as racers, fans, and the Thompson family, remembered the 2005 Volusia Speedway Park Track Champion who lost his life in a non racing related vehicle crash.  The race attracted a competitive field of 32 top late model racers from across the region, as the United Dirt Late Model Challenge Series combined with the Daytona Dodge Chrysler Jeep Late Model Division from Volusia Speedway Park.  Time trials, four heat races, and two B main events, plus a couple of provisional starters, set the field for the race.  Unfortunately for one prior winner of the event, mechanical issues early on led to a premature exit as ” the Locomotive” Johnny Collins suffered a transmission failure in hot laps.